


Triple Chocolate Fudge Milkshake

by Browa123



Series: Beverages and Bonding [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Family, Family Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jack and Danny bonding fic, Lots and lots of fudge, Milkshakes, Oneshot, Special today is fudge and father son bonding, fudge - Freeform, headcanon that Danny likes fudge too, no phantom planet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 21:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16900137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browa123/pseuds/Browa123
Summary: After an unsuccessful ghost hunt, Jack finds himself at an ice cream parlor on the edge of town. When Amity Park's most mysterious spook is found sitting inside, Jack decides to see what the deal is with this ghost unlike any other he's seen before.





	Triple Chocolate Fudge Milkshake

**Author's Note:**

> https://browa123.tumblr.com/post/180906647297/triple-chocolate-fudge-milkshake-browa123
> 
> Link to the title page

Jack sighed to himself, slugging the Fenton Bazooka onto his back now that there were no ghosts to fire at.

Another less than successful day. Though it wasn't a total waste, he got to see a ghost fight before he started throwing a few blasts at the offending spooks all over town. They were everywhere and attacking many of Amity Park's residents, to which the Fenton's eagerly stepped in to help the situation. Despite the fact that he couldn't hit a single ghost and the GAV got really badly damaged, there was still the thrill of the day to think on. Even if they didn't catch anything, it was quite the spectacle from a research point of view. Especially considering what Phantom had done near the end of the show.

Thank goodness for the Fenton Phones, able to block out spectral sound. His lovely wife still had ringing ears because she didn't bring any to the light show Phantom made to turn all the ghosts into ectoplasmic putty before sucking them into his thermos and escaping. Jack couldn't fully hear the wail due to the spectral nature being countered by his genius invention, but boy could he feel it. Phantom screamed at the top of his non-existent lungs and the road cracked, the buildings shook and the ghosts all destabilized enough for the elusive, extremely powerful spook to capture.

Jack and Maddie had thought Phantom was powerful before, but looking at the near crumbling street and remains of ectoplasmic goo all over the cracks, it was obvious the specter was on a whole different level than your average ghost. It was a grim realization of how much Phantom held back his strength around Amity Park, leaving Jack stunned. Maddie had loudly announced she'd be returning home, her hearing still having not recovered from Phantom's ghostly wailing attack. Jack decides to look into the extent of the damage in the meantime, pick up some readings of any lingering energy from the attack. Maybe pick out how powerful the ghost kid really is.

He wanders with a few devices he was able to pick up from the wrecked GAV. He heads down the street, before the Fenton Finder rings about a nearby ghost. A giddy grin hits Jack's face as he moves to follow the signature. He keeps a swift walk up, turning down the volume to avoid whatever spook the Finder picked up from finding him in turn. As he closes in on the signal, he slows to quiet his steps next, taking the advice of his wife and making a conscious effort to be stealthy. He's still no pro but he's getting better at sneaking up on things.

The finder then points to an ice cream parlor. The lights are mostly off for this time at night, but the dimly lit open sign is still flickering. Jack peeks inside the dark window of the parlor, seeing an employee cleaning an ice cream bowl and chatting up the only late night patron in the store. There's the slurping of a thick drink, must be a milkshake, and a soft reply Jack can't pick up through the window. The finder points directly at the store patron, signaling Jack to take a closer look. He didn't notice the glow at first, but now that he was looking it was painfully obvious that the ghost was the one chatting up the employee.

And not just any ghost. Phantom himself.

Jack, with a newfound excitement at the chance to catch Amity's most elusive ghost, lumbers into the store, trying and failing to remember to stay stealthy. The employee looks to the new customer with a wave before turning back to Phantom. The ghost boy barely makes a move to look up and see who entered, too caught up in drinking his milkshake with a sullen expression to care. The sight is confusing now that the hunter is seeing it. Ghosts can drink milkshakes? There's the sound of the straw being emptied, and the bottom of the glass whistles now that it's empty.

"Another round, kid? After all it's on the house," the employee speaks up. Phantom looks over to the human with a nod, his green eyes a bit dimmer than their normal childish cheer. With another grin, the employee takes the glass and starts to fill it up with a thick brown liquid. He tops it up with chocolate whipped cream and throws fudge sprinkles on top before handing the glass back to the spook.

"Another triple chocolate fudge milkshake for you, kid. Hope it helps," the employee smiles sympathetically. Phantom absentmindedly sips at the shake again. Triple chocolate fudge? That sounds good. Like really good. Jack takes his mind on capturing Phantom as a craving for fudge sets in. He takes a seat by the kid and waves at the employee.

"I'll have what he's having," he exclaims excitedly. The milkshake looks even better up close, as Jack watches Phantom drink it with fascination. The action should clearly be impossible, ectoplasm and normal matter certainly don't mix, and the fudge shake should just phase right through the ghost. The lack of a puddle on the ground around Phantom's seat obviously says otherwise, so could the milkshake must be mixing with the ectoplasm within the spook, if not being impossibly metabolized and turned into energy. The thought is ridiculous, and Phantom should be imploding letting that much physical matter close to his core. And yet the strange ghost sat there indifferently and not collapsing into an ectoplasmic mess.

Jack's milkshake arrives, and the ghost hunter grins. He takes a big gulp with gratitude and savors the chocolaty flavor. He then goes back to watching Phantom do the scientifically impossible. The ghoul appeared to be staring off into space still, if he hadn't noticed Jack's presence. The employee gives a small chuckle at the hunter's confusion.

"Poor kid. He shows up 'ere every time he's feelin' sorry for 'imself. Orders the same kidney bustin' amount of milkshake and wallows for a few hours. Was starstruck the first time 'e showed up here, but the kid needed some support. Been lettin' 'im vent here for the past six or so months now," the employee tells Jack as Phantom finished another milkshake with another whistle to indicate so. 

As Phantom wordlessly asks for another refill, Jack continues to study this phenomena. Because he's able to drink the milkshake, it means he's capable of inhaling. Yes, he remembers now. Before he unleashed that screaming attack on those ghosts he had taken a deep breath. Jack had passed it for someone gasping for air earlier, but now the hunter knew better. That was Phantom prepping the attack, having an intake of air in order to mix it with his ecto energy before releasing it in a charged manner. Fascinating! He'll have to tell Maddie about this when she can hear again.

Eyeing the ghost's chest, it was obvious to see the rise and fall against the skin tight suit. Inhaling and Exhaling obviously meant breathing, but this confirmed it. And every breath wasn't a charged wail of mass destruction, so it seemed that charging an exhale into energy was a choice rather than the reflexive nature of air impossibly passing in and out of the specter. This confirmed Phantom had lungs of some kind to generate the passing of air through his ectoplasm. Another milkshake appears before the ghost, and Jack adds stomach to the mental list of Organs-Phantom-Shouldn't-Have-But-Might-Anyway. What an odd ghost. Sure Jack knew Phantom was some kind of anomaly, but never did he think it was to this extent.

"If you're a fan, just know I don't do autographs," Phantom finally speaks for the first time that night. The normally exuberant and childish ghost seems dulled down, subdued. Jack thinks back to the words of the employee, and how Phantom came to get these milkshakes when he was feeling sorry for himself. Impossible, bet then again so is a ghost using some variant of a stomach or lungs to drink a fudge milkshake. He wouldn't go so far to think Phantom had a fully developed brain, but the matrix of the mental connection Phantom is tied to has to be very complex and detailed to manage this level of humanity.

With all he's seen here today, would having emotions be too much of a stretch?

"What's with all the self-depreciating milkshakes, kid?" Jack finally finds his voice. No, having emotions wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Ghosts usually act one way, and one way only. Tied to their obsession and mental connection and not having any ties to other notions of a true personality. Every time Jack had seen Phantom he was confident. Cocky. Full of ghostly energy and a bravado unrivaled by even himself somedays. Seeing the ghost this.... out of character had struck Jack as odd the moment he saw Phantom slumping though the window. Phantom didn't slump unless it was part of his childish over exuberance. Part of what Jack had always thought of Phantom had just been proven false, possibly explaining why he didn't recognize the infamous ghost until he looked closer.

"I'm sure the destruction I caused is all over the news by now," He mutters in reply, turning his head sharply away from Jack in a show of avoidance. "Phantom tears apart street, causing lots of property damage, again," he hisses bitterly, waving his arms in a half-hearted attempt at dramatic effect. He slumps his arms back on the table and takes another long sip of the third milkshake Jack has seen him consume. The ghost had tensed with an obvious annoyance at himself, or the how the media must be twisting the story. Jack knew how news networks loved to twist stories just to bring in more views and knew how fans loved to eat up whatever they showed about Phantom. The kid is a celebrity across Amity Park.

Yet he flatly stated he doesn't want to give out autographs not too long ago. The town hero of sorts, he definitely wanted to be seen as such, was sitting alone in an ice cream parlor. Avoiding the media and press while allowing himself to vent, when Jack would think a superhero ghost would want to ham up all the attention he can get. Phantom just got weirder by the minute.

"So why a fudge milkshake? I wouldn't think a ghost would care which milkshake he gets," Jack states. Phantom just chuckles dryly in turn. He finished the third shake and hands it back to the parlor employee for round four.

"My bladder is certainly going to hate me tomorrow," Phantom quips. Another chuckle. "As for why I picked fudge, a long time ago my Dad used to take me here before he got too caught up in his work to look after me. Thought I could take care of myself after I was old enough you know," Phantom puts on a reminiscent smile. "He said to me, 'Danny, when life gives you lemons, ya throw 'em all away and you go get some fudge instead. Fudge fixes everything,'" Phantom lowered his voice to make a comical impression of his father. "He took me out to get fudge milkshakes and fudge ice cream before he went back to work full time. Fudge may not fix everything, especially with how my life works nowadays, but it certainly helps me feel better."

"Your old man has good taste in advice, kid," Jack concedes. The fourth of Phantom's shakes arrive, and he slows down on the mindless slurping for this one, emerald eyes glowing a bit brighter. The memory of his past life must have cheered him up some. It also proved Phantom did have a complex mental structure if he could remember back that far into his past life, but it wasn't the main concern anymore. Right now there was a sad kid sitting in an ice cream parlor drowning his worries in fudge milkshake. Ghost or no, this kid needed a shoulder to lean on, if just for a night. Tearing apart that innocent yet hardy young face molecule by molecule didn't seem as appealing anymore.

Even if it was just a trick, Phantom isn't anything but thorough when getting people under his influence. The number of fans rushing to his popular reputation was proof enough. But catching the ghost boy away from the cameras and ghost fighting showed Jack a very different side to the top spook in Amity Park. A human side. If it wasn't scientifically impossible, Jack would say the ghost kid is very much alive, human to an extent. Perhaps that's why his influence was so powerful, he could relate and cater to those relations, allowing him to captivate his audience like no other normal ghost can.

Phantom stands after finishing his fourth milkshake. "It's getting late. Way past my curfew no doubt, and my parents are gonna be so cross when I get home." Another dry chuckle as emerald eyes meet blue ones. The glow is uncanny to that of the Ghost Portal that currently sitting in the basement of Jack's lab. The glow is identical. Was Phantom tied to the same ectoplasm that was used to run that portal? More theories for Jack to stew on when he gets home. Phantom gives him a calm smile.

"Thanks," Phantom tells him sincerely, before vanishing from Jack's sight. Moments later, his ecto signature vanishes from the Fenton Finder completely, as if he suddenly didn't exist anymore. Jack never had an explanation for that either. The hunter is left in the parlor with his own empty glass of milkshake, remembering the presence of the ghost that was just here. Phantom was an anomaly, that was for sure. An unsolvable puzzle, if he were to keep looking at the kid like an average ghost. Maybe his daughter was on to something with all that psycobabble she was known for. Phantom really isn't just a ghost, and he won't be solved being thought of like that.

Jack gets to his feet, pulling out the wallet to pay for the milkshake. The employee waves off the bill just this once, because he was able to cheer up Phantom from the slump he was in. Greatful, Jack hobbled out of the ice cream parlor, looking back at the sign for the establishment. Memories flood back, it sure had been a while since he was on this side of town. He remembers he used to bring Danny here when he started to try and take his fudge like the sneaky four year old he is.

"Heh, I should take Danny back over here for old times sake," and with that he started on his way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Plot bunny smacked me in the face so I wrote this instead of another Banished Spirit chapter XD


End file.
